The YouMoz Blog

Spare A Thought For The SEO Outsiders Who Pay Our Salaries

This entry was written by one of our members and submitted to our YouMoz section.The author's views below are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of Moz.

Like most people reading this, I work in the search marketing industry. However, the people who pay me don't; they are invariably business owners who for the most part don't get search marketing, social media, face-in or linked-book - did you see what I did there? Most of these poor souls are totally confused and confusion can lead to suspicion which in turn can lead to poor or broken relationships.

To make matters worse our industry is plagued with people offering low-cost solutions, promising but seldom delivering results. This sometimes means your potential new client has already been stung and is perhaps concerned you're just another scamster. However, the right approach in the early stages of a search marketing project can lead to a long and mutually beneficial relationship, and for me the right approach is to use simple language and set realistic expectations.

Here's a recent example of the initial contact I had with a potential new client. The guy is a professional, an architect, and a person with above-average intelligence. He runs a very successful architectural practice and alongside this has other business interests, the reason for the enquiry, for which he needed a new website. As an almost throwaway statement he advised that the new website would need to be on the first page of Google in the UK, USA and Canada and this would be required quickly as the website that currently provides the business leads was being decommissioned.

I'm sure most practising search marketers speak to people with requirements similar to this on a daily basis. To suggest this potential client is being naive is an understatement but they are not being unreasonable at this stage, they are simply saying they need a website, the website has to deliver business leads, and they expect those leads to come from search engines.

Your next steps are crucial if you are going to secure this client's business for the long haul ahead.

For me the only viable approach is to spend some time with the client to get them to a place where they have an appreciation of the required work. I'm not suggesting they need to study the SEOmoz Beginners Guide to SEO or become search marketers themselves, although some small business owners do take this route, but in my view they do need to at least 'get it'.

Of course there's always a danger you paint a picture so bleak the client runs for cover and gives up on the project! In all but a few cases this would almost certainly be an overreaction so it's your job to tell it like it is, whilst at the same time assuring them they're in safe hands. Now I know some might baulk at this and suggest the client doesn't need to know anything, and in any case they've come to you for a solution, not for you to bring them down and rain on their parade. But I think there's a happy medium and a client who understands the challenges of search marketing, even at a basic level, will be a better client in the long run and the relationship you build with them will be stronger.

So where to start?

Prior to a meeting I like to point our clients at a neat little resource we put together that explains SEO in a simple and novel way. It avoids jargon, only takes a few minutes to read and sets the scene ready for our face to face or telephone consultation. This is also an opportunity to figure out how receptive your client is to a little education. If they didn't take the time to read a simple primer, just how serious are they about making their website a business asset?

So, assuming you've got buy in it's now time to paint the general picture, and this is where OSE comes in. Because OSE is such a great visual tool I find it paints a clear picture of where their site sits and where its weaknesses might be. Whether you're sitting with your client or using a screen-share session, and I find screen share sessions very powerful, firing up OSE and comparing your client's site to their competitors gives them a great high-level overview when delivered in language you know they understand. OSE illustrates really well the key metrics and most business people we talk to relate to the information on the overview screen.

Leading on from this another great tool for scene setting is SEMRush. Most business people know about and are interested in their competitors and this tool provides a wealth of high level info about the people your client wants to beat in the SERPs. Showing them the words and phrases their competitors rank for, the phrases they are (probably) bidding on with paid search and all the general site info Rush throws up can reinforce the information you showed them from OSE.

Now some might argue there's a danger of information overload but I've found the combination of tools and resources listed above are just enough to paint the big picture and give the client enough to feel informed and empowered. Also, they usually appreciate the transparency and this can help to build trust. They can see the outline of the task ahead, they have an appreciation of why sites rank and they understand why you want to take their site in a particular direction.

Ultimately we all approach potential new clients differently and the information we share with them varies based on what we're comfortable with and the client's ability and desire to absorb information, after all we can't force them to share our passions. In my experience the best clients are those we've taken on a journey, those who've been prepared to invest a little time understanding what we do. This approach helps to avoid those awkward situations where an unexpected roadblock limits the effectiveness of some work you did, or worse, a situation where a client wasn't told what to expect from their investment and their assumptions were unrealistic.

42 Comments

Loved the comic. It puts things quite simply. Generally I noticed people who hear just a little bit of SEO or about Google automatically think they need to stuff keywords, or do a bunch of Google Ads to get to the front page. It is an amazing resource to give to business owners because many are going to fall into Google penalties when they tell Website developers what to put onto pages. (That's always bad, a developer that knows nothing about SEO and a business owner who THINKS they know about SEO.)

We like to take a screen shot of the OSE competition chart (as you listed above) and we also take a screen shot of the top keyword phrases after running a report in the SEOmoz keyword analysis tool. With a screen shot of their most important keywords we can determine what the search volume is and what it will take to get them to rank.

Ideally, we look for low hanging fruit (low comp. with good traffic) and pitch the prospect on this data. At our office we will let the client know exactly what they can expect and if it's even worth it for them to invest in SEO... If no one is searching and we take money the client will get pissed/screwed over. If the competition level is 90 and the client only wants to spend 1k a month we will let them know that this is not realistic. Honesty wins... Every client on board with us is happy with our service and understands exactly what they are getting. They also understand that we do not own or control Google we can only follow the best practices/guidelines.

Hey SEODinosaur, you are 100% on the money with this approach. Getting clients on board and being realistic about what can be achieved makes sense on every level. It's great to know so many Mozzers agree with this approach!

It's nice to see something about managing client expectations and dealing with the issue of communicating the reality of SEO. It's always been an issue, but the detail of that issue has changed for us over the years. We've gone from "what is a website" to "SE what??" and now "I need some SEOs for my website" - where prospects understand just enough to get is really wrong.

Not sure that the cartoon strip approach would go down well with some of the people I work with, but it's nice to see a different approach.

Thanks for the feedback Mat. I agree it's a tricky question to answer using a one size fits all approach. We get a mostly positive response across the board when we point people at SEOMan but I appreciate he's not everyone's cup of tea :)

You make a good point. One of the hardest things to communicate is the fact SEO isn't something you 'fix'. Some people genuinely believe their SEO is broken and once fixed they will shoot to the top of Google!

It is so important to manage client's expectations. I am still surprised in today's world with internet savvy people, that there are many who do not understand SEO. They cannot understand the ROI in SEO and therefore only allocate it a small budget. Yet they are more than happy to spend thousands on PPC.

Educating clients in a professional and non pedantic manner is important for the buy in of SEO from the marketing executive right up to the CEO.

Have to rate you for your cartoon strip, I had the pleasure of contacting you a few years back. You didn't have the cartoon then but you were certainly clear and approachable and extremely helpful. It was ultimately your attitude and our conversation that sparked my interest in learning more about SEO.

Absolutely true! Thanks very much for this post. It applies to Web Development, SEO, Social Media and the rest. Clients do not (as a general rule) understand anything beyond the basics of turning a computer on and using the Internet. It's our job to "think outside the SEO Bubble" and remember this. That's why it's so important to communicate well if you are in one of these fields. Unfortunately, I've found (speaking with other local Web Dev people) that they make even the simple stuff sound far too complicated. Being a great communicator is worth it's weight in gold. Great post!

Thanks Nick. Straightforward communication so important yet often lacking in technical fields. Speaking to clients in language they can understand is a great way of winning people over and a powerful sales tool.

Perhaps the most difficult conversations though are with people who have been given bad information from someone they trust, that can be really testing!

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've recently been getting feedback from clients that I explain it in a way that they understand. It really is uncommon for technical people to be able to explain things eloquently to clients.

Yes, I agree that when they have been given bad information, it's even more difficult. You have to re-explain it.

Hey, I went and subscribed to your Blog yesterday as it seems like you guys are great at what you do. I will follow with interest. Always good to find someone local (or a few 100 miles away) that produces a good service.

You are definitely right. I noticed when I worked as an IT consultant, that people generally distrusted me completely until after the job was done and they say the results. Make them happy the first time, they seem to trust you forever and they tell there friends who also hire you. Great post!

this is really a good post . I am a fresher in SEO , so I don't even expect such type of good things . really , this thing that you have discussed is impressive . Managing clients expectation is a big thing and you explain it really in a good way . I hope that in future also , you will discuss such new and fresh topics with us . Thank You

Awesome SEO comic strip, probably not a good fit for all potential clients but I enjoyed it :)Now, I'd like to see you follow up with some villains for SEOMAN to battle, the Penguin, the Panda, Black Hat Man, maybe even a cameo from 'Great Content Man' aka Matt Cutts? Hahaha ;)

Nice comic, we have a few SEO 101 decks we have made over the years to take clients over in say 10 minutes the basics of SEO, these have always worked very well and have very easy to understand concepts, its about working out what works for your client base.

Hi Dave, I think the comic is great. Whoever thought of that had a good idea and it has been put together well. Mat's right, a lot of times people know just enough to be dangerous. I once had a client who began with, "Yeah, I need to add a lot of keywords to my page so it will rank higher."

I think part of the problem is that there is a lag between what the public hears about SEO and what is actually true. A lot of times the public is getting information that is many years old. Your comic strip is useful in that it can bring people up to speed quickly.

Thanks George. Like you we get enquiries from people who heard things and have a firm, although usually incorrect, idea about SEO and what's achievable. One of the biggest challenges is people saying things like "how long will it take to get to number 1 for 'some competitive keyword'". These guys often have unrealistic expectations to manage :)

Yes, I agree. What makes this stuff even more complicated is how often things change. Theoretically, something that you tell a client 6 months ago can be bad information within that time. When I speak with potential clients, I always justify hiring us because "it changes so often, and you need someone to keep track of the online landscape".